Support The Moscow Times!

Election Meddling is Hard Work, Russian Foreign Minister Jokes

Sergei Lavrov / Russian Foreign Ministry / Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that Moscow had its “work cut out” influencing the presidential elections in the United States last year. 

The country has been accused of engaging in state-sponsored hacking, media propaganda and disinformation campaigns in several elections in the past year, including the U.S. presidential elections and the Brexit vote. The Kremlin has denied all accusations.

“We had our work cut out for us, it isn’t simple,” Lavrov said in an interview with the pro-Kremlin NTV network published on Facebook.

When asked about a list of countries Russia is accused of meddling in, including France, Britain and Germany, Russia's Foreign Minister said the list was much longer.

“You haven’t even listed all of what we’ve done in the past year,” Lavrov said, adding that the list should include Denmark, Sweden, Macedonia, Montenegro and Austria. 

“But we haven’t been able to oust the Japanese emperor yet,” he told the “Mezhdunarodnaya Pilorama” program hosted by film director Tigran Keosayan.

“That's in two years. We’ve done everything to make it happen sooner, but he begged to have two years,” Lavrov said.

… we have a small favor to ask.

As you may have heard, The Moscow Times, an independent news source for over 30 years, has been unjustly branded as a "foreign agent" by the Russian government. This blatant attempt to silence our voice is a direct assault on the integrity of journalism and the values we hold dear.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. Our commitment to providing accurate and unbiased reporting on Russia remains unshaken. But we need your help to continue our critical mission.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just 2. It's quick to set up, and you can be confident that you're making a significant impact every month by supporting open, independent journalism. Thank you.

Continue

Read more